The Heart Never Lies
by hankss
Summary: With his wife in a coma, and his hormonal teenage son barely speaking to him, Draco Malfoy finds comfort in the most unexpected of arms.
1. Chapter 1

Draco stared at his unmoving wife.

Astoria Malfoy looked almost peaceful. If not for the fact that she had tubes and IV's coming out of every orifice.

Two months. Two bloody months of watching her sleep.

He was sick and tired of it.

They had already been through four nurses; each one giving up on his stubborn ways, and irrational behaviour.

The last one walked out on him last night.

Today, the hospital was sending out a new nurse, with the warning that Draco should allow them to do their job without his input. Draco ran a hand through his silvering blonde hair and sighed.

They still didn't know what had caused her to fall into the coma.

The Healer's best bet had been a spell; something that sent her into a deep and unblinking sleep.

Could they wake her up? They had given him hope; and now Draco saw that it was blind faith.

He was beginning to wonder whether Astoria would ever open her eyes again.

Draco doubted it very much.

"I'm going out."

Draco turned to see his son leaning against the doorway.

"Where?"

"What do you care?" Scorpius rolled his stormy grey eyes.

"Scorpius," Draco's tone dropped dangerously, "Don't play with me."

"Oh come on dad, give it up."

Draco watched as his son turned away from him and with a flick of his wand, apparated to god knows where.

"Shit," He muttered under his breath.

The last thing he needed right now was his son being irrationally pissed off at him; but for some reason Scorpius had been acting like that for more than a few weeks now.

Draco was becoming tired of it.

He turned back to his sleeping wife. Her beautiful features were uncharacteristically gentle.

If she had been awake, there would be a tight frown on her face. Her lips would be pulled low, her eyebrows dipped into a scowl.

He stared at his booted feet. His son hated him and his wife had slipped into a coma.

Draco felt like what little family he had, was falling apart at the seams.

Not that Astoria had ever been a pillar of strength and love, but she was at least someone to spend time with.

A loud bang shook Draco from his thoughts and he looked up, startled, to find a woman a little younger than himself standing at his doorway.

"Draco Malfoy?" Her big blue eyes and long dirty blonde hair were so familiar, but Draco couldn't quite place her.

"Yes that's me," He rose a brow, "And you are?"

"Your new nurse." She looked at Astoria, "Or rather, her new nurse."

"Did I give you permission to apparate into my bedroom?"

The woman shook her head, "No."

"So then," He began, standing, "Why did you do so?"

"Because I figured I'd be doing a lot more of it."

Draco's eyes widened, "What do you mean?"

"I'll be taking care of Mrs. Malfoy," The strange woman smiled gently, "So you'll have to get used to me." She stepped inside the bedroom, her long blonde hair swinging carelessly from side to side.

Draco stared at her as she dropped her suitcase onto a chair and began unpacking things.

"Who are you?"

"I've told you silly," She laughed, "I'm your wife's nurse."

"But who are you?" Draco knew that he recognised her; those big blue eyes were far too familiar.

"Oh." She turned then, her rosebud mouth turned up into a sort of, but not quite, smirk, "My name is Luna. Luna Lovegood."

"Looney!" Draco's mouth dropped open, "Oh my God!"

"Luna," She corrected tiredly, "I do think we're past all that Looney nonsense, Draco."

"My, my, my." Draco's eyes raked over her, "You have changed."

"I don't know whether I should be flattered or not," Her trademark dreamy smile slipped onto her lips, and Draco wondered how he hadn't been able to place her before.

"I can't believe it."

And he couldn't.

Hadn't Luna Lovegood been short and stocky, with straggly blonde hair that kept falling into her murky blue eyes?

Before him stood a woman. Albeit, she still had that kooky air about her, but she had certainly grown into her figure. Draco almost regretted never having slept with her.

He laughed at his own thoughts.

"Am I amusing to you?"

"Oh sorry," He shook his head, "No don't mind me just…thinking."

"Mmm." And then under her breath she muttered, "Must be the Nargles."

Draco decided to ignore the last part, "So you are Astoria's nurse then?"

"That I am." Luna picked up a clipboard and pen and placed it at the foot of Astoria's bed, "You'll be seeing a lot more of me around here, Malfoy."

"Draco please."

"Draco," She smiled gently, "So the rumours were true, then."

"Rumours?"

"That you'd changed," Luna shrugged, "I'd heard that you weren't as malicious as you once were."

"Age and a family does that to you." Draco's lips were set into a thin line. He hated being gossiped about; whether it be positive, or negative.

"Yes well," Luna turned back to Astoria, "I will try my hardest to fix your wife, Draco."

He supposed he should have been offended by the casual way with which Luna spoke about his comatose wife.

But Draco, couldn't for the life of him, find a single thing to do except smile at the fact that Looney Lovegood would now be a permanent guest at Malfoy Manor.

…

It was midnight, and Scorpius was still out.

Draco paced the front room nervously, his hands clasped tightly behind him.

What if he'd got mugged? What if he wound up in the wrong part of the area? What if -

A loud crash signalled his son's return. Draco spun, feeling anger boil in his veins, to meet Scorpius' glazed over gaze.

"DRUNK?" He yelled, "You have the cheek to turn up here, DRUNK?"

Scorpius hiccuped and leaned forward, almost toppling to the ground, "Calm down father."

"Calm down?" Draco's eyes almost popped out of their sockets, "I will not bloody calm down! You think you can just show up here, without telling me where you've gone, without a single owl, or warning, DRUNK? You are very mistaken young man." Draco grabbed his son's arm roughly, "Things are going to change around here." He snarled, in his best Malfoy sneer.

"Says who?"

"ME!" Draco bellowed, "If you don't clean your act up Scorpius you will be out on the streets, on your ass." He shoved him away, "Now go clean up and get to your room."

With another hiccup and a roll of his eyes, Scorpius tumbled up the stairs and down the hallways, hitting everything in his awe.

Draco slumped back against the sofa, his head in his hands.

Where had he gone wrong?

What had he done that had caused his son to hate him so much?

He didn't understand. Didn't want to understand.

Had he become his father; cold and uncaring?

No. No, no, no. Draco refused to believe that he would stoop to Lucius' callous behaviour.

"It's not your fault, you know."

The voice scared him out of his thoughts, and Draco looked up sharply. Luna Lovegood stood before him, hands clasped tightly in front of her.

"Excuse me?"

"Scorpius," She clarified, "It isn't your fault he's acting up."

Draco's eyes widened, "How do you - "

"I've seen this kind of thing many times Draco," She smiled softly, sympathetically, "He's angry that his mother is in a coma. He's taking that anger out on you."

"But that can't be the only reason."

"Maybe not," Luna shrugged, "Have you ever tried to talk to him about it?"

Draco shook his head, "He's never given me the chance."

"Well…make it happen."

"Make it happen." Draco repeated to himself, "Yeah. I think I will." He looked up again, connecting gazes with Luna's warm blue eyes, "Thank you, Luna."

"Your welcome." She nodded once, and then turned to leave.

"Oh before you go." She paused, waiting for Draco to continue, "You can apparate here whenever you want."

Draco swore he saw Luna's shoulders relax at his words, "Thank you." She whispered, without turning around.

He nodded, even though she couldn't see him, and watched her leave.

And then, once again, Draco was alone.

…


	2. Chapter 2

"Scorpius." His son barely looked up when Draco called his name, "Scorpius Malfoy!"

"What?"

"Where are you going?" Draco was tired. He'd spent another sleepless night tossing and turning, unable to shut his overactive imagination down.

"Out." Scorpius shrugged, "What do you care anyway?"

"I am your father," Draco's eyes narrowed into slits, "And you will respect me."

His son rolled his eyes, so similar to that of Draco's and scoffed, "I'm going with some friends from school for coffee."

"Since when do you drink coffee?"

"Since a couple of weeks ago. What does it matter anyway?" He sounded tired, "Can I go?"

Draco watched his son carefully for signs of deceit. A flicker of his irises, the twitch of one of his hands.

Nothing.

He sighed deeply, "Fine, go."

Without another word, Scorpius slipped into the fireplace whisking himself away to god knows where. Draco's shoulders sagged as his son disappeared through the floo.

He was becoming tired of this entire scenario.

Of having to pull out half a conversation from his own son, damn it!

It wasn't right. It wasn't fair.

He raked a hand through his mess of hair and took a bite out of his butter less toast.

"What are you doing?"

The sound of Luna's voice scared him half to death and he spun around quickly, watching as she approached him carefully.

"What do you mean what am I doing?"

"Eating butter less toast," She scrunched up her little button nose, "That is disgusting!"

"I like it." Draco could hardly believe he was having this conversation.

"You would," She sighed and grabbed the piece of burnt bread from his hands, "Let me show you what a real toast tastes like."

She threw his breakfast away and with a smile, began cooking a new one.

"Just what do you think - "

Her blue eyes turned on him, and he was so drawn in by their beauty that he quite forgot what he was going to say.

"What was that, Draco?"

"Huh?" He snapped out of his daze, "Oh never mind."

"Mmm." Her smile widened and she turned back to cooking, her hands nimble as they cut open a fresh baguette and began to fry it against a slab of butter.

Draco felt his stomach rumble.

Silence settled between them, and Draco found himself studying Luna's side profile. Her nose was still a little bumpy; her face a little too round.

But her eyes were something else.

Magical, mystical almost. He'd never met anyone with eyes quite like it.

And that scared him.

"Did Astoria sleep well last night?"

Luna nodded, "Yes. Hardly any movement."

"Right." Draco assumed that since she was in a coma, there wouldn't be any movement anyway.

"I meant up here," She signalled towards her temples, "Not physically. We're monitoring her brain activity, just to be sure there still is any. She was peaceful, so she mustn't have had any nightmares."

Draco nodded, "Astoria was never the one to suffer from bad dreams."

Luna turned her head slightly, to connect gazes with him gently, "And you were?"

"Since I was a boy," He shrugged, "I'm used to it by now."

Luna flipped the bread over, "What are most of the dreams about?"

"Darkness," He felt uncomfortable talking about this with her, someone he hardly knew, "There's always something chasing me."

"A feeling of being trapped?" She slipped the cooked break onto a plate and smothered it with strawberry jam.

"Yeah. Exactly that actually," Draco watched as she passed him his breakfast, "How did you know?"

"I'm full of surprises Draco Malfoy." She smiled, "Well go on, try it."

He picked the food up carefully, mostly just to tease her, and took a cautious bite. She shoved him gently and he laughed.

"It's perfect. Just what I needed."

She tucked a strand of her long blonde hair behind her ears, "That's great."

Draco found himself lost in the beauty of her eyes once more, and was startled back to reality once more when she cleared her throat.

"So is Scorpius in Hogwarts?"

Draco blinked and looked away from her to clear his mind, "Yes. He's starting his final year after summer, in September."

"Oh that's so exciting."

Draco smirked, "Yes I suppose it is." And then for reasons unapparent to him, Draco asked, "So Luna have you got any of your own children?"

She seemed surprised for a moment, but quickly recovered.

"Me?" She shook her head, "No. I was married, once. But we divorced three years ago."

"Oh." For some reason, Draco found that this made him feel happy, "That's too bad."

"It was for the best, I suppose."

"Mmm." He leaned forward a little, "Besides, he doesn't know what he's missed out on."

Luna blinked, "Missed out on?"

"Well you of course," Draco smirked again, "You've become quite the lady, since Hogwarts, Luna."

She blushed wildly, "That must be the wrackspurts talking!"

Draco didn't even bother questioning her, and instead just laughed, allowing the subject to be dropped.

"I really must go now," She stood, "I've got to check up on Astoria."

"Alright." Draco nodded, and watched as she left, but not before promising to speak to him later.

And for reasons he didn't quite understand - nor did he want to - the prospect of speaking to Luna Lovegood had become very enticing, indeed.

….

Scorpius took another drag from the cigarette wedged between his lips.

He was sat in the basement, painting. The only thing that brought him any joy.

He splashed the black canvas with a dull yellow and watched as the wet paint trickled down.

Smiling, he puffed out a cloud of dark grey smoke and watched it float out the open window.

And then a loud bang shook him from his current state of relaxation, and he turned, sharply, to be faced by a very confused Luna Lovegood.

"Oh I'm sorry," She muttered, "I didn't think anyone was down here."

Scorpius' eyes widened, "What are you doing?"

"Looking for something," She started back up the stairs again, "I'll come back later - wait a minute." She narrowed her eyes, "Are you smoking?"

Too late to hide the truth, Scorpius shrugged, "So what if I am?"

Luna marched down, grabbing the cigarette from him, throwing it onto the ground and crushing it under her heel.

"Your mother is in a coma!" She screeched, "Smoke will certainly not better her already fragile condition!"

Scorpius raised a blonde brow, "And I care because?"

"She's your mother." Luna countered, crossing her arms, "Drop the arrogant, misunderstood teen act, Scorpius. Your father is going through enough trouble without having to deal with you, too."

He stared at this woman he barely knew and furrowed his brows.

"Why do you care?"

For some reason a faint blush painted her cheeks, "What do you mean?"

"Why do you care? About me, and my father and my mother?" He spoke the last word with venom.

"Because…it's my job to care!"

Scorpius shook his head, "That can't be the only reason why."

"And because I hate to see broken families," She admitted, "I come from something similar, Scorpius I know what it feels like."

His gaze steeled over, "You have no idea about what I'm going through."

"Well I would, if you would just speak to me."

"Speak to you?" He scoffed, rolling his eyes, "Why would I speak to you of all people? I barely know you!"

"Sometimes that makes things easier. You know, without the added pressure of having to conserve your relationship with me."

Scorpius took a box of cigarettes out of his pocket and a lighter, "The last thing I will ever do, is talk to you about my problems, Looney. So just leave me alone."

Luna felt hurt at the nickname.

"Alright," She whispered, shaking her head, "I was just trying to help."

"Yeah…well don't." He shrugged, taking out a thin stick and lighting it up, "Now go away."

She turned to leave, "If you ever want to talk," She threw over her shoulder, "You know where I am."

Scorpius scoffed again, but said nothing.

He watched as she left, closing the door at the top of stairs and padding down the hallway.

When he was sure she was gone, his shoulder slumped back.

If only he could talk to her.

If only he could tell her everything.

The truth.

He shook his head. No. Nobody needed to know the truth.

Certainly not Luna Lovegood. And definitely not his father.

He needed to shut himself out.

He needed to continue isolating himself.

It was the only way to ensure that he didn't break his already fragile father into a million shattered pieces.

….


	3. Chapter 3

Draco sat near his motionless wife.

This hour he spent by her side every day was the part of his day he looked forward to the least.

He read her The Daily Prophet quietly, his usually authoritative tone almost meek.

Usually, he would read to her, hold her hand, speak to her about things that had recently happened to him or people they knew, and then he would get up and leave.

Today however, was different. As he finished reading he set the newspaper to one side and scooted closer towards her.

He touched her pale forehead.

"What's happened to you, Astoria?" He wondered aloud.

Would they be able to heal her? Draco doubted it. And he knew that if she didn't wake from her coma soon, he would have to pull the plug on the entire thing.

He shivered at the thought.

Scorpius would probably leave Malfoy Manor and never come back, if that ever happened.

He laced his hand with Astoria's and weaved their fingers together; a gesture they rarely mirrored when she'd been alive and well.

He was falling apart at the seams. He couldn't deny it.

Something had to give.

Draco Malfoy was tired of fighting to rise above everything when it seemed that life was determined to pull him down.

Maybe it was karma. For all of his past wrongdoings.

He laughed.

The universe hated him. Perhaps it was time for him to reap his rewards.

"There's something Scorpius is keeping from you." The voice shook Draco from his tangent of thought. He looked up sharply, to connect gazes with Luna. She was leaning against the doorway, her arms crossed almost but not quite, defiantly.

"What do you mean?"

She stepped forwards, "He was in the basement last night." She told him, "Smoking and painting."

"How do you know?"

"I caught him," She shrugged, "I went down there to look for the healing balm and he was just sat there, surrounded by a thick cloud of smoke and splattering paint onto a blank canvas."

Draco knew that Scorpius spent a lot of time down there. But he preferred that his son didn't disclose the nature of things that he did.

He supposed in this situation, ignorance was bliss.

"And I spoke to him," Luna continued, "Briefly. He's really upset, Draco."

He quirked an eyebrow, "I thought we had already established that?"

"Too upset," She shoo her head, "When I brought up Astoria and how I knew what it felt like to lose a mother, he immediately shut himself off. He's not angry at you Draco…he's angry at her."

Draco's eyebrows furrowed into a frown, and he stared at the blonde haired woman as she watched him carefully.

"Why would he be angry at her?"

"Did anything happen between then before she fell into the coma?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Draco's tone came out harsher than he intended.

He immediately regretted it once he saw the look on Luna's face.

"Sorry," He mumbled, "I'm just really starting to feel the pressure of everything lately."

"I understand." She smiled gently, "Why don't you try and do something to calm you down? I'll take care of her, don't worry."

Draco nodded, standing slowly, and watching as Luna began to check Astoria's details.

"Thank you." He whispered gently. She looked up and nodded, a faint smile painting her powdery pink lips.

"It's quite alright Draco," She answered, "If you need me, you know where I am."

He tilted his head forward in gratitude once more, and then without another word, slipped out of his wive's room and into his study.

Right now he needed to shut the world out.

And then, then he was going to get to the bottom of this whole fiasco with Scorpius.

….

Luna checked Astoria's vital signs once more.

Everything seemed just the way she had left it last night.

She blinked up at the clock hanging off the taupe wall. It read eight fifteen AM.

It was early. Luna knew that Draco's visits were normally in the morning, the first thing he did after waking up.

She guessed it was because he was so consumed by guilt, until he performed this morning ritual, nothing else would get done.

She frowned. Draco. He was an enigma to her.

To be perfectly honest, his entire family was.

How had Astoria even fallen into this inexplicable coma in the first place?

Luna was determined to find out.

Spending nearly every day here except for Sundays, she knew that she had more than enough time to unravel the mysteries of the Malfoys.

A muffled bump caught her attention, and Luna's eyes zipped over to the doorway.

She was surprised to see Scorpius standing there, dressed in his typically black attire, donning chunky, black, biker boots.

"Scorpius."

"Oh it's you." He didn't sound annoyed, just disappointed. He frowned and shrugged, "I'll come back later."

"No, no. I'll leave."

Luna hadn't seen Scorpius spend any time with his mother once in the week she had been working here. Unless he did so on her day off or during the nighttime when Luna was sleeping in her own apartment, she doubted he'd seen her at all recently.

"Are you sure?" He asked, his entire body tense.

"Of course." She nodded gently, "I'll go make myself a tea."

As Luna brushed passed him, she sent Scorpius a gentle smile, "Would you like anything?"

He shook his head and despite himself, mirrored her smile, "No thank you."

She nodded, and then left, leaving Scorpius alone with his comatose mother.

He stepped into the room gingerly, his hands gripping the chains hanging off of his trousers tightly.

Scorpius hadn't come to see his mother in over a week now. He couldn't bare to see her.

But now he had summoned up the courage, he stepped towards her, his face clenched.

As he stood at her bedside, he stared down at her motionless body. Her usually stern face unnaturally calm and relaxed.

He wondered what she was thinking about.

"Hi mum," He whispered, his voice barely leaving his throat, "How've you been."

He laughed dryly, "Not good huh?"

He hated this. He wished she would open her eyes.

He wished he could tell her everything. He wanted to be mad at her…he was mad at her!

But he wanted to be sad too. Why wasn't he sad? Why couldn't he cry?

It was all her fault!

"I know you think you were clever about it," He cleared his throat, "But I found out mum. I kept my mouth shut and then I was going to confront you about it - I was going to tell you that I knew…but you got sick." He felt his stomach clench, "Why would you do that to us mum?" His voice dropped to a whisper, "To me, to us…to dad."

To dad.

Scorpius felt sick.

He thought he could do this, he really could. But he wasn't strong. Not like his father…his poor, innocent father.

"Why?" For the first time in months, Scorpius felt a tear slide down his nose, "Why did you do this to us mum?"

His lips neared her ear, "And why did you leave before I could get mad at you? Before I could tell you I hated you!"

He slumped back against the chair behind him and buried his head in his hands.

It wasn't fair.

A knock at the door caused him to look up. Luna Lovegood was standing before him, holding two cups of tea and smiling gently.

"I made one for you," She clarified, "Just in case."

Despite feeling like a coward, and wishing the ground would just swallow him up and be done with it, he grinned.

"Thank you, Luna."

She stepped towards him and handed him the mug.

"What's wrong Scorpius?" She whispered, her face tugged into a frown, "What's happened to you?"

He looked up sharply, his gaze connecting with hers. He readied himself to cut her off; to tell her to leave him alone.

But the look in her big, warm blue eyes caught him by surprise.

He blinked; once, twice.

And then he felt another tear slide his cheek. He couldn't do it anymore.

He couldn't lie for her.

"My mum was having an affair," He whispered, as he wiped away the tear, "I caught her in bed with him. My father's best friend."

….


	4. Chapter 4

Luna's mouth fell open as she stared at Scorpius, unmoving.

"What did you say?" She whispered, her hands flexing around the hot cup of tea between her palms subconsciously.

"My mother." Scorpius looked away, "She was having an affair."

Silence. Luna couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Oh my god." Luna knelt down in front of Scorpius and grabbed his hands, "Oh my _god_. I am so sorry Scorpius."

His eyes were red and puffy and he took a shaky breath in, "Yeah. Me too."

Suddenly Scorpius was enveloped in Luna's arms, and he was crying on her shoulder like he hadn't cried in _so_ long. He couldn't think of anything else but the fact that this woman, this woman he barely knew, seemed to care more about him and his family than the woman he called mother.

"It's going to be alright," Luna soothed, rubbing his back gently, "It's going to be alright."

Scorpius' body wracked with the strength of his sobs and he squeezed his eyes shut, wincing from the pain that seemed to emanate throughout his entire body - the pain he had been hiding for so long. _Too_ long.

"What am I going to do?" He pulled away from Luna's embrace, "Please don't tell my dad Luna - _please_."

The blonde haired woman nodded emphatically, wiping away his tears and sighing heavily, "I won't say anything Scorpius, I promise. Not until you decide it's the right time."

Scorpius didn't know if there ever _would _be a right time. After all, when was it acceptable to tell your father that his comatose wife was actually sleeping with his best friend, behind his back?

"Come now," Luna nudged the mug of tea back into Scorpius' hands, "Drink up."

"You swear you won't say anything Luna?"

She nodded, "I swear. Your secret is safe with me."

Something in Luna's stomach was churning. She knew this _really_ had absolutely nothing to do with her. After all, she was just Astoria's nurse. The Malfoy family's personal life should have had been none of her concern. But for some reason, Luna had found herself drawn to them - both father and son. They were an enigma to her, a mystery. She wanted to figure them out. To figure it _all_ out.

"Luna I was wondering if - oh." Draco appeared in the doorway, a pair of glasses hanging almost precariously off the edge of his nose, "Scorpius." He stepped forward, "What are you doing here?"

Scorpius' molten grey eyes - just seconds ago so dewy and wet - hardened over and he cleared his throat, "I just - I came to see mum." He nodded over at the motionless Astoria, "Haven't seen her in a bit."

"Oh." Draco approached his son slowly, "Are you going to stay much longer?"

"No. I was just leaving, actually." Scorpius stood, "I'll uh…talk to you later." He looked pointedly at Luna, "Goodbye."

"Bye?" Draco couldn't believe that his son - the boy who had treated him like _shit_ since the moment Astoria had fallen ill - was suddenly acting so…civilly. When Scorpius was gone he turned to Luna, "What was that about?"

"I think he feels guilty." Luna tugged on the end of her scraggly hair, "For not seeing her in so long."

That wasn't necessarily a lie, was it?

"I see." Draco sat down on the chair Scorpius had been slouched over in just a minute ago, "How's she doing?"

"Fine." Luna shot up quickly, busying herself with checking Astoria's progress, "Everything seems to be stable. As it was yesterday."

As it was yesterday. Draco couldn't count the amount of times he'd been told that in the past few months.

He was getting tired of the procrastination. Of the non-movement. Granted, Astoria wasn't getting worse, but she didn't seem to be getting better either.

Something had to give.

"It's tiring, huh?" He looked up sharply and noticed Luna was studying him, "I understand, Draco. I've seen this happen a lot of times in my line of work." She shrugged, "You don't have to feel bad about it."

"She's my wife."

"But right now, she's just a shell of a person." Luna patted his shoulder in a move that was almost affectionate, "Don't beat yourself up about it."

He tugged a hand through his hair but said nothing.

He didn't know what to say, anyhow.

And then suddenly he felt as though he were suffocating. Like everything was closing in on him and he couldn't breath properly. Like he was underwater trying desperately to swim to the top but being unable to surface properly.

"Why don't we take a walk?"

Luna quirked a brow, "I'm working."

"Just once around the grounds." He stood and motioned for her to join him, "Astoria will be fine."

Luna seemed unconvinced but when Draco grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him gently, she couldn't resist.

Something in her chest seemed to catch fire at his touch and her heart clenched.

This wasn't good news.

When they stepped outside the air was crisp and cold and Luna shivered.

"I should have brought a jacket," She mused, looking up at the grey, overcast sky ahead.

Draco shrugged out of the warmth of his coat and draped it over her shoulder, "Here," He smiled softly, "Have mine."

"No Draco I couldn't it's - "

"No really." He nudged her in the side and shook her head, "It isn't a big deal. In fact I'll be offended if you _don't_ take it."

Her mouth snapped shut and all her protestations were caught in her throat.

"Fine." She mumbled, falling into step beside him.

The garden around them was beautiful - filled to the brim with greenery and flowers of all different shapes and colours and sizes. Luna smiled at the sight before her and sighed.

"This is…_perfect_."

"Isn't it?" They stopped at a little gazebo and sat down on the white-washed bench, "I come out here to think a lot."

"It's an easy place to escape to, isn't it?"

"Exactly." He sighed, "Sometimes when things get too much…"

"You mean things with Astoria?"

Draco licked his lips, "I mean in general." He didn't know why he was opening up so much to this woman he barely knew, "Things have never been easy at home, let's just put it that way."

"Ah."

Luna guessed that Draco and his wife had fought a lot - even before she fell sick.

It seemed from the way he interacted with her that their relationship had been cold and calculating. And that was what Draco had always been to Luna.

Cold and calculating.

From the first moment she'd met him, all those years ago in Hogwarts, Luna had pegged him as a man with a dark and broken heart.

But the man before her seemed different, changed somehow. Warmer, lighter. He smiled a lot more, laughed too. There was something about Draco Malfoy that had changed. She wasn't sure exactly _what_ it was, but it made the sight of him and Astoria together almost…painful.

She wanted him to be happy and she _knew_ it was absurd. He was Draco bloody Malfoy after all, the ferret.

But things changed after the war it seemed. Everybody was different now. Including him.

"I'm sorry," She whispered, suddenly realising how close they were, "I don't like to see you upset."

Draco's lips tugged up into a sort of smile, "No you never did like seeing people sad, did you Luna?"

She shook her head and he laughed softly.

"Who did you marry?"

"Neville Longbottom." She tucked some hair behind her ears, "Three years after the war. We rushed into it. I should've seen how much he loved Hannah Abbott. Wanted to believe he was the one, you know? Guess I wasn't fooling anyone but myself."

"He left you for someone else?" Draco scoffed, "Bloody Longbottom."

Luna grinned at Draco's comment and giggled, "Oh well. I suppose it was for the best."

"Should have married a _man_ Luna. Then you would've seen what you were missing all those years."

"Mmm. Really? Should I?"

"Yep." He puffed his chest out jokingly.

"A man like you, you mean?"

"A man like me," He smirked, "I mean look at all I would've been able to give you!"

Luna's eyes scanned the horizon and she shrugged teasingly, "Eh. I've seen better."

Draco guffawed, "I'm sure you have."

She whipped her head around to chastised him and suddenly they were nose to nose, his breath fanning out across her cheeks hotly. Luna blushed and bit her lip, staring desperately into the molten lava eyes she'd never been able to figure out.

"I uh…we…" She couldn't get anything out - the words were stuck.

Luna could count the colours in Draco's eyes - three in total. Green, grey and blue. His eyes were so _beautiful_. How had she never noticed before? Like liquid silver.

"We should get back," Draco whispered, blinking, "Before it gets dark."

"Yeah." Luna's heart shuddered involuntarily, "We should."

Draco looked away quickly and sighed heavily, relaxing his shoulders.

The spell - whatever it was - between them was broken and Luna tugged a hand through her hair, rubbing her eyes.

What on _Earth_ had just happened?

And why did the thought of Draco Malfoy grabbing her in his arms and kissing her senseless, not sound at all repulsive to her?

Oh god. She really _was _looney.

…

**OH MY GOSHHH GUYS. SORRY FOR GOING MIA FOR SO LONG! But I am back, and ready for action. For any of you who also read The Bet, I am planning to update that shit tomorrow so keep your eyes peeled! If there's anyone out there still reading this favourite read and review please! I LOVE YOU ALL VIRTUAL CUPCAKES FOR THE ENTIRE INTERNET!**


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